A review by yoteach87
A Stranger in the House by Shari Lapena
2.0
A Stranger in the House revisits the commonly occurring trope of the lead female protagonist's affliction with amnesia and nearly every other cliche that follows: an accident, a murder, a marriage thrown into chaos. While the mysterious Karen Krupp awaits her memory to return to her, and it always happens near the climax, the story flounders for action. But while the husband is often the bain of the wife’s existence, the trope is sidestepped in favor of a neighbor, Brigid, Karen’s friend from across the street. Hijinks ensue while the three leads attempt to juggle the murder in light of a set of completely unreliable narrators.
There's not much new ground here. The three leads move in and out of believability. Tom Krupp, Karen’s husband, is far too eager to call everything into question when the police question him about his wife’s accident. Before the accident, we learn that Tom and Karen’s marriage (of two years) has been perfect. Then, suddenly, one strange act by Karen (driving erratically and getting into an accident) makes Tom pause. Why the sudden change of heart? Is it because they’ve only been married for two years and, for the sake of the story, Tom decided he didn’t need to know anything about his wife or her past before marrying her? Many choices had to be made, mostly by Tom, for this story and its predictable path to be followed.
What especially inscenced me was the ending. Obvious spoilers ahead, so skip this paragraph to avoid the ending. The ending can be divided into two parts: Karen’s reflection and Brigid’s brooding. Karen’s reflection is the twist ending the reader had waited for but never got. Here she reflects on how she is a survivor, and that essentially her backstory (which is relayed several times by supporting characters through much of the story) was false. While not terribly believable, I was willing to suspend my belief to accept her truth. However, Brigid’s brooding was unnecessary fodder for, what I am guessing is, a sequel. Why the Krupp’s need to go on another adventure seems like an asinine trip for the reader to take. What more is there to say? How many more trials can their shaky marriage take before breaking apart completely? Why can’t they just move away to a new state? It’s not like Tom needed that accounting job.
Author Shari Lapena's second novel comes from the same idea-factory that continually pumps out Girl on the Train clones, hoping to capitalize on its success. While an entertaining read at best, at worst this will be a forgettable story that, months from now, I realize that keeping a record of a review is the only way I remembered I've read it.
There's not much new ground here. The three leads move in and out of believability. Tom Krupp, Karen’s husband, is far too eager to call everything into question when the police question him about his wife’s accident. Before the accident, we learn that Tom and Karen’s marriage (of two years) has been perfect. Then, suddenly, one strange act by Karen (driving erratically and getting into an accident) makes Tom pause. Why the sudden change of heart? Is it because they’ve only been married for two years and, for the sake of the story, Tom decided he didn’t need to know anything about his wife or her past before marrying her? Many choices had to be made, mostly by Tom, for this story and its predictable path to be followed.
What especially inscenced me was the ending. Obvious spoilers ahead, so skip this paragraph to avoid the ending. The ending can be divided into two parts: Karen’s reflection and Brigid’s brooding. Karen’s reflection is the twist ending the reader had waited for but never got. Here she reflects on how she is a survivor, and that essentially her backstory (which is relayed several times by supporting characters through much of the story) was false. While not terribly believable, I was willing to suspend my belief to accept her truth. However, Brigid’s brooding was unnecessary fodder for, what I am guessing is, a sequel. Why the Krupp’s need to go on another adventure seems like an asinine trip for the reader to take. What more is there to say? How many more trials can their shaky marriage take before breaking apart completely? Why can’t they just move away to a new state? It’s not like Tom needed that accounting job.
Author Shari Lapena's second novel comes from the same idea-factory that continually pumps out Girl on the Train clones, hoping to capitalize on its success. While an entertaining read at best, at worst this will be a forgettable story that, months from now, I realize that keeping a record of a review is the only way I remembered I've read it.